Vescarian Schools of Magic
Given the incredibly vast capabilities of magic, the people of Vescaria have been studying it for well over a millenia and a half, and have since come up with varying categories, known as 'Schools of Magic', to sort the and organise the different types of magic to promote both learning and archiving of knowledge. These Schools are defined by two types: Those that are accepted as safe and lawful by the High Council, and those whose arts are deemed Forbidden. Accepted Magic Schools Arcane Arcane magic deals with the direct manipulation of magical energy, in its base form. Though all other schools can be considered subsidiary to this, as they all manipulate mana. Much of the spells in this school form a representation of energy, and can easily be moulded and shifted into various shapes. Skilled Arcanists can often create very complicated magical constructs and often have the greatest potential. Examples include: *Magic Missile *Magic Barrier *Artificial Soul Construction *Sigyn Erster's 'Spell Intercept' Elemental Conjuration and control over natural elements. Whilst some may choose to specialise in the simple evocation of the element, Elemental magic is one of the easiest to combine with all other kinds of magic, often adding an attribute to the spell. Skilled Elementalists can often either control a large number of elements, combine many of them to great effect or have focused so heavily on a single one that it can overcome former weaknesses. Examples include: *Fireball *Ice Wall *Manipulation of the shadows Animation Animating an object within the physical world. This typically utilises real-world objects to perform an action, and unlike Enchantment it does not add any additional properties to the object itself, merely causing it to perform actions that would normally take an outside force. Skilled Animists can cause complicated objects to work on their own, or can animate a mass number of objects in unison. Examples include: *Levitation of a subject *Picking a lock by moving the tumblers *Causing a sword to swing of its own accord Construction Utilising mana to construct a physical object rather than using magic as energy. Unlike Alteration, this school focuses on creating a complete object from scratch rather than utilising an existing one, allowing the complete freedom of creation of almost any object provided the mage has the skills and knowledge necessary to do so, though the objects in question will only last as long as they have a source of power, usually the mage in question's mana pool. Skilled Constructors can create vastly large or powerful objects, animated famliars, or even intelligent servants. Examples include: *Bringing a sword, bow or other weapon into existence *Creation of a limited-intelligence creature, bound to the will of the mage *The ability to bring forth things from one's own imagination into being Summoning Conjuring beings, objects or familiars into the physical plane. This can include imaginary items or beings or ones that actually live in one plane or another, but does -not- include anything that already exists on the material plane, such as a book from the local library. Skilled summoners can bring forth multiple creatures and items at once, or can call upon great, hulking beats under their command. Examples include: *Calling forth Demons (generally frowned upon) *Conjuring wolves or other animal familiars that did not originally belong in the world *Summoning ethereal blades or equipment that was not there originally Restoration Recovery or healing of any afflicted conditions on a subject. Unlike the restoration schools of other types of magic, Vescarian Restoration focuses more on the adept use of arcane energies to perform surgery and actively restore the body. This can range from strengthening and expanding cell walls to prevent bleeding or stitching together and disinfecting a wound through the proper application of magical energy. Skilled Restorers can perform advanced surgery through magical means, and have often studied a great deal in order to become as medically proficient as any non-magical Doctor or Surgeon. Examples include: *Curing diseases *Healing wounds *Removing poisons Illusion Conjuration or alteration of aspects in the world that are, for all intents and purposes, false. This can be accomplished by either affecting the opponent's mind directly, or manipulating things like light or mist to create visual illusions, and is often a combination of both to provide the greatest effect. Skilled Illusionists can trick an entire crowd of people proficiently or focus so closely on an individual that they can often begin to question their own reality. Examples include: *Illusory walls *Altering one's appearance without actually doing so (a disguise, not plastic surgery) *Creating false duplicates of oneself that are not physical Alteration Altering an existing property of a subject. This changes an immediate property of an object depending on the user's wishes, and can be performed on both organic and inorganic materials. Unlike Enchantment, performing alteration on an object actively changes it but can never be permanent, as the change of property is fueled by the user's mana fighting against the natural order of things. Altering a stone into liquid, for example, is not the same as melting it with intense heat. Skilled Alterers can change multiple properties of a single object at once, or change properties of a large number of objects at once. Examples include: *Changing size and shape *Turning a solid stone into a fluid *Enhancing existing strength Enchantment Adding an additional new property to a subject. Often seen in the enhancement of weapons by adding an additional property, most commonly an elemental one, enchantment can be considered a more direct application of most magic that is very dependant on the object being enchanted. Whilst enchanting lightning onto a blade may be less flexible than using the raw lightning itself, because it bases itself around the shape of the sword it takes far less energy and lasts a lot longer. Skilled enchanters can often find themselves able to enchant a large number of objects at once, or place a great many properties on a single item for combined effects. Examples include: *Elemental weapons *Cursed items *Magical barrier on top of armour (does not count as 'enhancing existing defense') Enchantment is often seen as a lazier Alteration, as most of the effects of enchantment can be produced through alteration, though the latter is more difficult to achieve. Temporal Altering or adjusting time and space. Typically one of the most difficult schools to come to terms with, Temporal magic involves the arcane folding of the world around the user to affect either its flow of time or the space around them. By changing the time to get between two destinations, it is possible to create a dimensionally folded doorway from one to the other in a limited space. By changing the time around the user, it is possible for them to appear to move faster than any ordinary man should, even through Alteration, even to a point where time simply stops around them. Skilled Temporalists are capable of moving about the world at their leisure and likely have incredibly vast mana pools due to the amount of energy required to be able to use these spells. Examples include: *Teleportation *Time magic (haste, slow, stop) *Warp gates Forbidden Schools Affliction Causing delibilitation or direct harm to a subject, directly opposing Restoration. Unlike more typical methods of inflicting harm, such as offensive elemental magic or using summoned blades to deal damage, Affliction is the direct application of cuts, injuries or disease on the opponent through arcane means. This can range from simply tearing apart the subject's skin with arcane energy to weakening their bones and causing them to shatter inside their body, or using magical energy to directly block bodily functions. Skilled Affliction mages can lower the natural defences of those around them to allow a disease to spread rapidly, or cause a single subjects heart to block up and prevent blood flow. Examples include: *Inflicting diseases or poisons *Applying direct harm, such as cuts or bruising *Causing a dulling of the mind or other debilitation Necromancy Magically affecting or altering that which is deceased. It is commonly found in the form of raising the dead and granting them life through magical means rather than through a natural life force, though it can also be used to draw the released souls of the dead, allowing a number of effects to occur including placing them inside objects. Skilled Necromancers can control large quantities of the undead, and even attempt to pull a person's soul from their still-living body. Examples include: *Raising the dead *Creating a zombie army *Taking over the world with a zombie army Blood Magic Conjurations, alterations or any other magical arts that either channel, consume or affect life force directly. Blood Magic is a very broad term that can cover a number of spells from the other schools listed above, but specifically refers to spells that have been adapted to consume or use life force as a fuel source, as opposed to Mana. As a direct affront to Vesca's life-giving outlook, Blood Magic is considered the most heinous of Vescarian crimes, considered a blasphemy of the gift of life that has been provided for so long. Skilled Blood Mages can often perform a great many powerful spells with ease given the increased natural power of life force as opposed to mana, and can even use the life force of other people - something that is impossible to perform with mana. Examples include: *'Instant Death' spells *Channeling life into direct power *Controlling the body of another living being by taking hold of their life force Category:Lore